Arman Gabaee, a Beverly Hills-based real estate developer and longtime city hall donor accused of attempting to purchase a million dollar home for a Los Angeles County official, in exchange for help securing a $45 million contract with the county, agreed to plead guilty to one count of bribery.
According to the plea agreement, Gabaee provided monthly kickbacks of $1,000 to Thomas M. Shepos, a county official working in the Los Angeles County Real Estate Division, "in exchange for county leases, preferential contract terms, non-public information and other benefits." The scheme began in 2011 and went on for approximately five years.
In 2017, Gabaee attempted to purchase a million dollar home for Shepos as a bribe in return for help securing a county lease at the Hawthorne Mall, which Gabaee owned. The potential 10-year lease was reportedly worth more than $40 million. By then Shepos had been cooperating with the feds for about a year; recording phone conversations while collecting a cool $6,000 in bribes. Gabaee ultimately put in two offers for a home in Northern California but he rescinded his second offer when the feds came knocking.
Gabaee’s ties to local politicians date back more than a decade. In 2019, the L.A. Times reported that Gabaee, his relatives, and his family’s companies donated more than $160,000 to campaigns, office holder accounts, and ballot measures over a 12 year period. The donations coincided with the proposal of District Square, a massive mixed-use development project in the Crenshaw area. The project was initially supported by then Councilmember Herb Wesson, who helped the developers of the project obtain tens of millions of dollars in federal grants and loans, while Gabaee and his associates supported Wesson and other city hall officials with tens of thousands of dollars in financial contributions. Subsequent construction delays however led to the city receiving seven default notices. And since then the project has been in limbo.
Over the years, Gabaee’s money went to the campaigns of influential city leaders like Mayor Eric Garcetti, current council members Mitch O’Farrell, Gil Cedillo, and Mike Bonin, as well as former council members Jose Huizar, Mitch Englander, and Herb Wesson.